Gay Mormons, Elder Packer, and Three Myths about The Homosexual Lifestyle

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Elder Boyd K. Packer, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints created quite a stir over the weekend with a talk that he gave in that church's General Conference that, among other things, suggested that engaging in a homosexual lifestyle is ultimately a choice. Predictably, this upset a lot of members of the queer movement, many of whom felt that such a statement was offensive. To me, after reading Packer's talk, I couldn't agree more. However, I'm sure that this statement will be controversial. So, I wanted to discuss some myths surrounding the homosexual lifestyle.


Myth 1: It is not a choice to live the homosexual lifestyle.


Reality: Beyond eating, sleeping, and breathing, most things that people do in life are choices. I see no real reason why living in the homosexual lifestyle is any different. All of us have to make choices in life. For example, I choose not to take illegal drugs, sky dive, or go to the opera. All of those aspects of my life are choices, and I could have easily chosen a path where I did things differently.

Myth 2: It is not a choice to whom one is attracted.

Reality: When I was young and single and had much less experience with sex and the opposite sex, I might have bought this one. However, as I have grown older, I realize that this argument doesn't hold water either. People literally choose every day to whom they're attracted (or not). For example, this is why some guys prefer blonds and others prefer brunettes (or girls with black hair in my case). It's also why most guys, but not all, don't look at porn with fat girls in it and why some guys choose to be celibate and some choose to cheat on their wives. If you're going to claim that attraction in some of these cases is genetically based, why not in the rest of them? What is so different about a guy being attracted to another guy and a guy being attracted to a girl who is 300+ lbs? When the gay rights activists can explain that one to my satisfaction, I'll believe the arguments about attraction being an inborn thing that people can't change.

Myth 3: Homosexuals can't find a satisfying relationship with someone of the opposite sex.

Reality: Anyone whom has ever been married should realize that sexuality is a small part of the overall picture in a marriage. Sometimes the sex is good, bad, frequent, infrequent, hot, not, heavy, nonexistent, or none of the above. If you're married to someone you love, it doesn't matter much anway. Even in situations where the sex is less than ideal, married couples have many other things to focus on in life.If sexual relations were the end all be all of married or couple life, people would break up once the sex stopped.

I think that, in consideration of my personal experiences in life, Packer hit the nail on the head for this one. Lets get a discussion going here -- what do you think? Bring on the hate!

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